THE CAR (1977)

One day, for no known reason, a mysterious all-black car starts murdering people around the small desert town of Santa Ynez. The local authorities are useless and never call for outside help even after six of their own police officers are killed. Oh yeah, did I mention that the car doesn’t have a driver and it can drive through houses and tumble all over the joint and rev its engine a lot? Well, it can.

I first saw THE CAR when it aired on NBC on Saturday, November 22, 1980. My itty-bitty stupid child brain thought THE CAR was wicked as fuck and come Monday we were all standing around the school playground saying stuff like “The Car is wicked as fuck!” and “When Knight Rider shows up in two years, The Car is gonna kick K.I.T.T. in his N.U.T.T.Z.!” and “I wish The Car would kill me and my entire family! Yeah!” You know, normal childhood banter.

But…is THE CAR still entertaining today? Ehhh, the first two acts are fairly entertaining, I really did enjoy watching the car taking people out and then honking like a maniac, but the last act is a goddamn snoozer!

Amusing idea (even if it’s just a rip-off of JAWS), cool-looking devil whip, okay acting, pretty desert town locations, incorrect subtitles on the blu-ray and the DVD (see below), weak direction, even weaker script, solid cast, a police car falling one foot and exploding. Overall, THE CAR is an interesting film that made a pretty big impact on (movie-loving) children of a certain age. And even if I find the film to be weak nowadays, I’m still a fan of it and don’t understand why there wasn’t more done with this idea. I wish somebody had made more Car films back in the 1980’s.

If you’ve never seen THE CAR, then it’s definitely worth checking out. Double-feature with the Futurama episode "The Honking".

[Bonus newspaper clip talking shit about THE CAR. I actually remember also watching THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE after THE CAR.]

She clearly say "Cat poo!, not "Tadpole!" Even worse, this subtitle is incorrect on the DVD also. So like nobody checks this shit? Or they just don't give a fuck?

MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE (1986)

I remember reading Stephen King's short story "Trucks" (feature in the Night Shift collection) many years ago and it only being about actual large vehicles (18-wheelers, bulldozers, etc.) coming to life and crushing people.  This movie though, adapted to the screen and directed by King himself, has all kinds of different machines coming alive.  Everything from a foul-mouthed ATM to a gas pump and a soda-shooting Coke machine.

Like in the short story, the main action takes place as a secluded truck stop along the side of a now deserted highway.  Fry cook Emilio Estevez's crappy day gets even crappier when an electric carver attacks a co-worker and then some trucks start running people down.  Eventually survivors start gathering at the truck stop for safety and are put to work (by a bulldozer and a military machine gun vehicle) pumping gas into a long line of thirsty trucks.  Throughout all this there's a few various events shown, like a steamroller running down a kid, a drawbridge going berserk and an ATM machine telling Stephen King he's an asshole.

As a horror movie, MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE is a total failure, but as entertainment it's not too bad.  The idea of machines coming to life is compelling and the characters are interesting.  A little blood, zero gore, zero nudity, 80's clothing, AC/DC music, explosions, cheap gas, an alright pace that kinda runs out of steam towards the end.  With a bigger budget, tighter script and a more experienced director MO might have been awesome, but as it is it's still a fun time-waster.

I A-B Repeated this dude yelling "What the fuck's going on in here?!" until tears were streaming down my handsome cheeks.